Provided by: dpkg-dev_1.19.7ubuntu3.2_all bug

NAME

       deb-src-control - Debian source packages' master control file format

SYNOPSIS

       debian/control

DESCRIPTION

       Each  Debian  source package contains the master «control» file, which contains at least 2
       paragraphs, separated by a blank line.  The first paragraph lists  all  information  about
       the source package in general, while each following paragraph describes exactly one binary
       package. Each paragraph consists of at least one field. A field starts with  a  fieldname,
       such  as Package or Section (case insensitive), followed by a colon, the body of the field
       and a newline.  Multi-line fields are also allowed, but each supplementary line, without a
       fieldname,  should  start with at least one space. The content of the multi-line fields is
       generally joined to a single line by the tools (except in  the  case  of  the  Description
       field,  see  below). To insert empty lines into a multi-line field, insert a dot after the
       space.  Lines starting with a ‘#’ are treated as comments.

SOURCE FIELDS

       Source: source-package-name (required)
              The value of this field is the name of the source package,  and  should  match  the
              name  of  the  source  package  in  the  debian/changelog file. A package name must
              consist only of lowercase letters (a-z), digits  (0-9),  plus  (+)  and  minus  (-)
              signs, and periods (.). Package names must be at least two characters long and must
              start with a lowercase alphanumeric character (a-z0-9).

       Maintainer: fullname-email (recommended)
              Should be in the format «Joe Bloggs <jbloggs@foo.com>», and references  the  person
              who  currently  maintains  the package, as opposed to the author of the software or
              the original packager.

       Uploaders: fullname-email
              Lists all the names and email addresses of co-maintainers of the  package,  in  the
              same  format  as the Maintainer field.  Multiple co-maintainers should be separated
              by a comma.

       Standards-Version: version-string
              This documents the most recent version of the distribution  policy  standards  this
              package complies with.

       Description short-description
        long-description
              The format for the source package description is a short brief summary on the first
              line (after the Description field).  The  following  lines  should  be  used  as  a
              longer,  more  detailed  description.   Each  line  of the long description must be
              preceded by a space, and blank lines in the long description must contain a  single
              ‘.’ following the preceding space.

       Homepage: url
              The upstream project home page URL.

       Bugs: url
              The  url  of  the  bug tracking system for this package. The current used format is
              bts-type://bts-address, like debbugs://bugs.debian.org. This field is  usually  not
              needed.

       Rules-Requires-Root: no|binary-targets|impl-keywords
              This  field  is  used to indicate whether the debian/rules file requires (fake)root
              privileges to run some of its targets, and if so when.

              no     The binary targets will not require (fake)root at all.

              binary-targets
                     The binary targets must always be run under (fake)root.  This value  is  the
                     default  when  the  field  is  omitted;  adding  the  field with an explicit
                     binary-targets while not strictly needed, marks it as having  been  analyzed
                     for this requirement.

              impl-keywords
                     This  is  a space-separated list of keywords which define when (fake)root is
                     required.

                     Keywords consist of namespace/cases.  The namespace part cannot contain  "/"
                     or whitespace.  The cases part cannot contain whitespace.  Furthermore, both
                     parts must consist entirely of printable ASCII characters.

                     Each tool/package will define a namespace named after itself and  provide  a
                     number of cases where (fake)root is required.  (See "Implementation provided
                     keywords" in rootless-builds.txt).

                     When the field is set to one of the impl-keywords, the builder  will  expose
                     an  interface  that  is  used to run a command under (fake)root.  (See "Gain
                     Root API" in rootless-builds.txt.)

       Testsuite: name-list
       Testsuite-Triggers: package-list
              These fields are described in the dsc(5) manual page, as they  are  generated  from
              information  inferred  from  debian/tests/control or copied literally to the source
              control file.

       Vcs-Arch: url
       Vcs-Bzr: url
       Vcs-Cvs: url
       Vcs-Darcs: url
       Vcs-Git: url
       Vcs-Hg: url
       Vcs-Mtn: url
       Vcs-Svn: url
              The url of the Version Control System repository used  to  maintain  this  package.
              Currently  supported  are  Arch, Bzr (Bazaar), Cvs, Darcs, Git, Hg (Mercurial), Mtn
              (Monotone) and Svn (Subversion). Usually this field points to the latest version of
              the package, such as the main branch or the trunk.

       Vcs-Browser: url
              The url of a webinterface to browse the Version Control System repository.

       Origin: name
              The  name  of  the  distribution  this  package  is originating from. This field is
              usually not needed.

       Section: section
              This is a general field that gives the package a category  based  on  the  software
              that it installs.  Some common sections are utils, net, mail, text, x11, etc.

       Priority: priority
              Sets  the  importance of this package in relation to the system as a whole.  Common
              priorities are required, standard, optional, extra, etc.

              The Section and Priority fields usually have a defined set of accepted values based
              on the specific distribution policy.

       Build-Depends: package-list
              A  list  of  packages  that need to be installed and configured to be able to build
              from source package.  These dependencies need to be satisfied when building  binary
              architecture  dependent  or  independent packages and source packages.  Including a
              dependency in this field does not have the exact same effect  as  including  it  in
              both  Build-Depends-Arch and Build-Depends-Indep, because the dependency also needs
              to be satisfied when building the source package.

       Build-Depends-Arch: package-list
              Same as Build-Depends, but they are only  needed  when  building  the  architecture
              dependent  packages.  The Build-Depends are also installed in this case. This field
              is supported since dpkg 1.16.4;  in  order  to  build  with  older  dpkg  versions,
              Build-Depends should be used instead.

       Build-Depends-Indep: package-list
              Same  as  Build-Depends,  but  they  are only needed when building the architecture
              independent packages. The Build-Depends are also installed in this case.

       Build-Conflicts: package-list
              A list of packages that should not be installed when  the  package  is  built,  for
              example  because they interfere with the build system used.  Including a dependency
              in this list has the same effect as including it in both  Build-Conflicts-Arch  and
              Build-Conflicts-Indep,  with  the  additional  effect of being used for source-only
              builds.

       Build-Conflicts-Arch: package-list
              Same  as  Build-Conflicts,  but  only  when  building  the  architecture  dependent
              packages.  This  field is supported since dpkg 1.16.4; in order to build with older
              dpkg versions, Build-Conflicts should be used instead.

       Build-Conflicts-Indep: package-list
              Same as Build-Conflicts,  but  only  when  building  the  architecture  independent
              packages.

       The  syntax  of  the Build-Depends, Build-Depends-Arch and Build-Depends-Indep fields is a
       list of groups of alternative packages.  Each group is a list  of  packages  separated  by
       vertical  bar  (or  “pipe”) symbols, ‘|’.  The groups are separated by commas ‘,’, and can
       end with a trailing  comma  that  will  be  eliminated  when  generating  the  fields  for
       deb-control(5)  (since  dpkg 1.10.14).  Commas are to be read as “AND”, and pipes as “OR”,
       with pipes binding  more  tightly.   Each  package  name  is  optionally  followed  by  an
       architecture qualifier appended after a colon ‘:’, optionally followed by a version number
       specification in parentheses ‘(’ and ‘)’, an architecture specification in square brackets
       ‘[’ and ‘]’, and a restriction formula consisting of one or more lists of profile names in
       angle brackets ‘<’ and ‘>’.

       The syntax of the Build-Conflicts, Build-Conflicts-Arch and  Build-Conflicts-Indep  fields
       is a list of comma-separated package names, where the comma is read as an “AND”, and where
       the list can end with a trailing comma that will be eliminated when generating the  fields
       for  deb-control(5)  (since dpkg 1.10.14).  Specifying alternative packages using a “pipe”
       is not  supported.   Each  package  name  is  optionally  followed  by  a  version  number
       specification  in  parentheses,  an  architecture  specification in square brackets, and a
       restriction formula consisting of one or more lists of profile names in angle brackets.

       An architecture qualifier name can be a real Debian architecture name (since dpkg 1.16.5),
       any  (since  dpkg  1.16.2)  or  native  (since  dpkg 1.16.5).  If omitted, the default for
       Build-Depends fields is the current host architecture,  the  default  for  Build-Conflicts
       fields  is  any.  A real Debian architecture name will match exactly that architecture for
       that package name, any will match any architecture for that package name if the package is
       marked  with  Multi-Arch: allowed, and native will match the current build architecture if
       the package is not marked with Multi-Arch: foreign.

       A version number may start with a ‘>>’, in which case any later version  will  match,  and
       may  specify  or  omit  the  Debian  packaging revision (separated by a hyphen).  Accepted
       version relationships are ‘>>’ for greater than, ‘<<’ for less than, ‘>=’ for greater than
       or equal to, ‘<=’ for less than or equal to, and ‘=’ for equal to.

       An  architecture  specification  consists  of one or more architecture names, separated by
       whitespace. Exclamation marks may be prepended to each of the names, meaning “NOT”.

       A restriction formula consists of one or more restriction lists, separated by  whitespace.
       Each  restriction  list  is  enclosed in angle brackets. Items in the restriction list are
       build profile names, separated by whitespace and can be prefixed with an exclamation mark,
       meaning “NOT”.  A restriction formula represents a disjunctive normal form expression.

       Note  that  dependencies  on  packages  in the build-essential set can be omitted and that
       declaring build conflicts against them is impossible. A list of these packages is  in  the
       build-essential package.

BINARY FIELDS

       Note  that  the Priority, Section and Homepage fields can also be in a binary paragraph to
       override the global value from the source package.

       Package: binary-package-name (required)
              This field is used to name the binary package name. The same restrictions as  to  a
              source package name apply.

       Package-Type: deb|udeb|type
              This  field defines the type of the package.  udeb is for size-constrained packages
              used by the debian installer.  deb is the default value, it is assumed if the field
              is absent.  More types might be added in the future.

       Architecture: arch|all|any (required)
              The  architecture  specifies  on  which  type  of  hardware  this package runs. For
              packages that run on all architectures, use the any value. For  packages  that  are
              architecture  independent, such as shell and Perl scripts or documentation, use the
              all value. To restrict the packages to a certain set of architectures, specify  the
              architecture  names,  separated  by a space. It's also possible to put architecture
              wildcards in that list (see dpkg-architecture(1) for more information about them).

       Build-Profiles: restriction-formula
              This field specifies the conditions for which this binary package does or does  not
              build.   To  express  that  condition, the same restriction formula syntax from the
              Build-Depends field is used.

              If a binary package paragraph does not contain this field, then it implicitly means
              that it builds with all build profiles (including none at all).

              In  other  words,  if  a  binary  package  paragraph  is annotated with a non-empty
              Build-Profiles field, then this binary package is generated  if  and  only  if  the
              condition expressed by the conjunctive normal form expression evaluates to true.

       Essential: yes|no
       Build-Essential: yes|no
       Multi-Arch: same|foreign|allowed|no
       Tag: tag-list
       Description: short-description (recommended)
              These  fields  are  described in the deb-control(5) manual page, as they are copied
              literally to the control file of the binary package.

       Depends: package-list
       Pre-Depends: package-list
       Recommends: package-list
       Suggests: package-list
       Breaks: package-list
       Enhances: package-list
       Replaces: package-list
       Conflicts: package-list
       Provides: package-list
       Built-Using: package-list
              These fields declare relationships between packages.  They  are  discussed  in  the
              deb-control(5)  manpage.   When  these  fields are found in debian/control they can
              also  end  with  a  trailing  comma  (since  dpkg   1.10.14),   have   architecture
              specifications  and restriction formulas which will all get reduced when generating
              the fields for deb-control(5).

       Subarchitecture: value
       Kernel-Version: value
       Installer-Menu-Item: value
              These fields are used by the debian-installer in udebs and are usually not  needed.
              See  /usr/share/doc/debian-installer/devel/modules.txt  from  the  debian-installer
              package for more details about them.

USER-DEFINED FIELDS

       It is allowed to add additional user-defined fields to the control file.  The  tools  will
       ignore these fields. If you want the fields to be copied over to the output files, such as
       the binary packages, you need to use a custom naming scheme: the fields should start  with
       an X, followed by zero or more of the letters SBC and a hyphen.

       S      The field will appear in the source package control file, see dsc(5).

       B      The   field   will   appear  in  the  control  file  in  the  binary  package,  see
              deb-control(5).

       C      The field will appear in the upload control (.changes) file, see deb-changes(5).

       Note that the X[SBC]- prefixes are stripped when the fields are copied over to the  output
       files.  A field XC-Approved-By will appear as Approved-By in the changes file and will not
       appear in the binary or source package control files.

       Take into account that these user-defined fields will be using the global namespace, which
       might at some point in the future collide with officially recognized fields. To avoid such
       potential   situation   you   can   prefix   those   fields   with   Private-,   such   as
       XB-Private-New-Field.

EXAMPLE

       # Comment
       Source: dpkg
       Section: admin
       Priority: required
       Maintainer: Dpkg Developers <debian-dpkg@lists.debian.org>
       # this field is copied to the binary and source packages
       XBS-Upstream-Release-Status: stable
       Homepage: https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg
       Vcs-Browser: https://git.dpkg.org/cgit/dpkg/dpkg.git
       Vcs-Git: https://git.dpkg.org/git/dpkg/dpkg.git
       Standards-Version: 3.7.3
       Build-Depends: pkg-config, debhelper (>= 4.1.81),
        libselinux1-dev (>= 1.28-4) [!linux-any]

       Package: dpkg-dev
       Section: utils
       Priority: optional
       Architecture: all
       # this is a custom field in the binary package
       XB-Mentoring-Contact: Raphael Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org>
       Depends: dpkg (>= 1.14.6), perl5, perl-modules, cpio (>= 2.4.2-2),
        bzip2, lzma, patch (>= 2.2-1), make, binutils, libtimedate-perl
       Recommends: gcc | c-compiler, build-essential
       Suggests: gnupg, debian-keyring
       Conflicts: dpkg-cross (<< 2.0.0), devscripts (<< 2.10.26)
       Replaces: manpages-pl (<= 20051117-1)
       Description: Debian package development tools
        This package provides the development tools (including dpkg-source)
        required to unpack, build and upload Debian source packages.
        .
        Most Debian source packages will require additional tools to build;
        for example, most packages need make and the C compiler gcc.

SEE ALSO

       deb-control(5), deb-version(7), dpkg-source(1)